Current day conferencing solutions provide various options for conferencing participants in a conference call. One solution is to provide a host code for a moderator of the conference call and a participant code for the other participants in the conference call. The host code is known only to the moderator. The moderator logs into the conference call using the host code. Each participant then logs in using the same participant code. In a voice only conference call, the moderator only hears a beep when each participant joins the conference call. The moderator then must ask who joined the conference call.
The problem with this solution is that once a person has gained access to the participant code, the person can join the conference call (e.g., a periodically scheduled call) even when the person was not invited. All the person has to do is know when the meeting is scheduled.
One solution to deal with this problem is to provide a list of caller IDs associated with each caller who has called into the conference call. The list is typically provided to the moderator or via a multi-media display in the conference call. However, this solution still falls short. When callers call in using outside services, such as Skype®, the caller's ID is listed as “unknown.” Likewise, if the caller has blocked the use of caller ID, the caller is listed as “unknown.” If the system cannot identify who the caller is using caller ID, the identity of the caller is listed by displaying the caller's phone number. In these situations, the caller's identity is still unknown. Without proper identification of the callers, these solutions are not completely secure.